RAJPUT SOCIETY

RAJPUT SOCIETY The basis of Rajput society was that every clan traced its descent from a common ancestor, real or imaginary. The clans generally dominated a compact territory. Attachment to land, family and honour was a characteristic of the Rajputs. The Rajput organisation of society had both advantages and disadvantages. The advan­tage was the sense of brotherhood and egalitarianism which prevailed within each clan of the Rajputs. But pride in beionging to a tightly-knit clan also led to all exaggerated sense of honour and the need to protect that honour against slights, real and perceived. Feuds which continued for several generations on the issue of honour merely weak­ened the social and political fabric. Their tendency to form exclusive groups, each one asserting its own supremacy, prevented them from uniting and cooperating in the face of an attack from outside.